• ‘BATO, The Movie,’ ”Tol,’ and ‘Ang Sikreto ng Piso’ bombed at the tills
• ‘Ang Sikreto ng Piso’ earned only a little more that Php 200,000
• Present state of indie films in the Philippines

We Filipinos are accustomed to western movies with million-dollar budgets. Flashy action scenes, top notch CGI, and savvy marketing campaigns across all social media platforms have molded our minds to associate Pinoy indie films as “cheaper” film works.

Perry Escaño, director of “Ang Sikreto ng Piso,” whose movie only earned a little more than Php 200,000, expressed his sadness in the state of independent films here in the Philippines.

“It is so depressing how badly independent film productions are treated in the Philippines. Even though we have audiences watching in the cinemas, our film “Ang Sikreto ng Piso,” was pulled out by some operators and was replaced with Hollywood films after the first day.

“This is not the way to encourage local directors to create more movies. This is also not the way to educate the local movie audience as they need variety in their choices.

“This is also not the way to help industry workers because they need work to be able to put food on their families’ tables.

“The all-business mindset of cinema operators is killing the industry. We appeal to them to bring back to the movie theaters the local films they have pulled out after the first day. More people will come especially during the weekends. We just know. Do you think Hollywood films will help you in our future? Support our own Filipino films instead.”

The movies redundancy of using storytelling that has been done before might have played a factor to its failure in the big screen, so it is not yet clear if our favor to western movies played a big factor to its flop.

Unlike piso, bato movie flopped for an entirely different reason. people can’t help themselves from squinting their eyes in suspicion that the film might be a strategy to lionize Bato for the upcoming election this year in May.

Boycotted for the actor robin known for being pro duterte its timing of the release. netizens made fun of the movie for its failure to bring the audience on its release by sharing photos of its number of bought seats.

Si Bato at misis nya yung dalawa sa gitna.
Pinsan yung magkaaway sa harap.
Tas kapitbahay dati yung magjowa sa kanan.

Nilibre nya lahat yan. https://t.co/NEcYinPpeP

— Ethel (@econcepcion) February 1, 2019

• In a snippet on Jessy Mendiola’s Instagram account, Luis Manzano addressed her as the mother of his children.
• This prompted people to get curious of the two; if they are planning to get married soon.

Jessy Mendiola uploaded a short teaser of her upcoming vlog wherein she featured her daily activities with her sister, her work out routines, and her bonding moments with her boyfriend, Luis Manzano.

Aside from the jokes and laughter, one of the most noticeable parts of the snippet was when Luis pointed at Jessy and said, “mother of our children” before teasing her.

View this post on Instagram

This is my way of saying YES to new beginnings and to life’s endless surprises. I have something new for you guys this 2019. Get to know me more. Stay tuned. Link in bio. ❤️

A post shared by Jessy Mendiola (@senorita_jessy) on Jan 6, 2019 at 4:10am PST

This made Netizens ask if the couple is planning to tie the knot in the near future.

It can be recalled that Luis’s mother, Vilma Santos-Recto expressed her hopes of his son getting married.

“Siyempre naiinip na rin ako dahil ang feeling ko kung ‘yun ay para sa kanilang dalawa sana ay go na. Pero at the end of the day, uulitin ko lang, ang huling magdedesisyon ay silang dalawa, kasi silang dalawa talaga ang magsasama. Pero kung silang dalawa naman, sana matuloy na,” she said in a phone interview in December 2018.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BsPsmm9hvSu/

She also gave an advice to Jessy.

“I know love is very important pero palagay ko siguro, sa experience ko lang, ang pinaka-importante ay ‘yung respeto muna. You really have to respect your partner. There’s no such thing as adjustment period. The whole time of the relationship ay adjust kayo ng adjust sa isa’t isa.”

• Stars who have been recipients of “fat memos” from their networks.
• They shared their reactions and how the said memo affected their careers and mental health.

As public personalities, people have this thinking that celebrities should be confined to the society’s ideal perception of what being attractive is. That they should have smooth skin, no flaws, and a skinny body.

Whenever these figures doesn’t fit those descriptions, there are always netizens that will point out what they should be and should not be. This includes the topic of weight.

As cameras make one look multiple times the size they truly are, networks give ‘fat memos’ to those who they think looked heavy on-screen.

Here are some of the celebrities who have were reported to have received memos from their respective networks and those who have been fat shamed online.

Jessy Mendiola

Jessy recently admitted that she has received a “fat memo” from the big bosses of ABS-CBN around one or two years ago.

“It’s a proof na you can’t get work if you gain weight. That’s how society works.”

She admitted that back then, she didn’t understand the reason why she received the said memo, and it did not have a positive effect on her. In fact, the incident even pushed her into depression.

“I got very depressed. Parang dumating ako sa point na, ‘Ah ito na lang pala din talaga ‘yung halaga ko. Kung hindi ako sexy, wala akong projects or hindi nila ako makikita as who I am.’”

But eventually, the star picked herself up and decided that rather being sexy, she just wants to be healthy and feel good about herself. Losing weight is just an add-on to the process.

She also gave credit to her support system who became her inspiration through those hard times.

“Yung support system ko. And it’s more of siyempre hindi naman ‘yun mangayayari mag-isa. Kailangan mo rin talagang maging active in life. Hindi lang siya sa pagwowork-out ha. More of pro-active sa mga tao, sa work mo.”

Geoff Eigenmann

Geoff was also one to receive the said “fat memo” from his mother station GMA.

He admitted it four years ago, and said that he “knew it was coming.”

It was said that during Forever, his series with Heart Evangelista, their stylists had to resort to layering off his clothes just to hide his weight gain. And later on, the executives had to intervene.

“GMA talked to my manager, they went over what should be done and all that, and then my manager told me about it.”

Unlike Jessy, Geoff didn’t have any negative reactions. But the memo didn’t have any positive effect either as he didn’t have any projects following such.

“GMA talked to my manager, they went over what should be done and all that, and then my manager told me about it. When he told me, wala. I wasn’t angry. I didn’t complain. There was no point.

“I don’t want to bullshit you: It wasn’t just a memo, it was a suspension. Nawalan ako ng trabaho.”

He was given three months to get back in shape.

• Jessy Mendiola finally opened up about the plane incident that involved Enrique Gil three years ago.
• She said that she has moved on and has forgiven the actor for his alleged harassment.

Kapamilya star Jessy Mendiola recently mentioned the past plane incident with Enrique Gil that occurred back in 2015.

Three years ago, Jessy, Enrique, and other celebrities were en-route to London for an ASAP concert. It has been reported that a minor confrontation rose between Luis Manzano, the actress’ boyfriend, and a supposedly drunk Enrique, who was allegedly harassing the actress.

In an interview with PEP during the press conference of her movie with Jericho Rosales, The Girl in the Orange Dress, she stated that she never got a formal apology from the actor, but has forgiven him anyway.

“Nag-move on na ako. May mga bagay… ikaw din kasi ang mahihirapan, e, kapagka hindi mo ni-let go yung mga ganung bagay.

“And now, okay na ako, e. May mas malala pang bagay na nangyari sa akin. And halata naman siguro na happy ako ngayon and yung mga dating nangyari, hayaan na natin yun.”

https://www.instagram.com/p/BqzXasIBTdE/

The actress said that she felt disrespected that time but was not sure if the actor was really drunk or not.

“Hindi ko alam. Baka stressed lang siya.”

Mendiola continued on saying that she’s okay after the incident.

“Tapos, within those two years, I had to work on myself to heal. And now, I’m really proud to say na I’m really okay. I’m healed.”

• James Jimenez quits as focal person of the local source code review for the upcoming elections.
• It was because of an incident during a presentation involving a bikini photo of Jessy Mendiola.

Commission on Elections (Comelec) spokesperson James Jimenez resigned as focal person of the local source code review for the 2019 automated elections on Monday, October 15.

It was two days after an incident during the poll body’s presentation on local source code review which showed a bikini photo of actress Jessy Mendiola. Jimenez’s personal laptop was the one used for the presentation.

He explained that it was the photo used at the idle moment of the presentation as it was the wallpaper display of the device.

“I would like to apologize for the inappropriateness of the image.

“The image was on my computer, desktop image siya. Apparently lumalabas yung desktop image for a fleeting moment when they switch between programs.”

In a press briefing, Jimenez said that he takes full responsibility for the incident.

“There was a small technical issue involving flashing of a photo which was inappropriate for the event.

“I take responsibility and I apologize. I regret it. Because of that I resigned as a focal person for the local source code review.

“If I don’t acknowledge it, it will affect the integrity of the process. Ultimately, this is for the transparency and overall credibility of the institution I serve.” 

Jimenez will remain as the poll body’s director for the planning department and spokesperson.